Conflict & Stabilization Operations

Description

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) is dedicated to anticipating, preventing, and responding to conflict that undermines U.S. national interests. CSO is home to data-driven analysis and frontline stabilization advisors and works closely with the Department of Defense (DoD) and USAID to ensure that diplomacy, development, and defense can work effectively in the most complex crises.

What does it buy?

CSO programs, implemented through grants and cooperative agreements, support diplomatic efforts on conflict prevention and stabilization. Short-term, targeted programs work to counter violent extremism, address political instability, and promote security sector stabilization.

Why is it important?

• CSO collaborates with State regional and functional bureaus, DoD, and USAID to detail stabilization advisors, where they work alongside the military—often U.S. Special Forces.
• CSO uses cutting-edge data analytic tools to anticipate and prevent instability that could otherwise result in costly military and humanitarian operations. It has developed the Instability Monitoring Analysis Platform (IMAP), which collects, visualizes, and analyzes data on political instability and conflict trends across the globe. CSO combines this data with on-the-ground knowledge to make evidence-based recommendations for U.S. policies and programs in conflict zones.
• CSO works across the globe in diverse contexts like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Colombia, Venezuela, Yemen, Nigeria, and Mozambique. It has also assisted with Central America’s security and in the effort to defeat ISIS in the Middle East.

Why should Americans care?

• CSO plays a vital role in national security and stabilization efforts. As the 2018 USAID-State-DoD Stabilization Assistance Review provides, “Stabilization does not require extremely high funding levels; rather, stabilization depends on consistent, flexible funding accounts…that can enable agile, targeted, and sequenced approaches to stabilization programming.”
• CSO analysis brings greater coherence to U.S. foreign assistance programs and enhances U.S. diplomatic engagements by identifying drivers and triggers of violent conflict early, aligning U.S. government efforts to effectively and efficiently mitigate threats.

What more could be done?

• Additional investment could allow CSO to expand its analytical toolset and improve its capacity to predict, target, and mitigate at-risk contexts, reducing the need for costly future interventions.
• Increased funds could allow CSO to seamlessly scale up the ability to anticipate, mitigate, or prevent instability in dozens of fragile and conflict-affected contexts around the globe. For example, the proliferation of militia and breakdown of national armies remains a key impediment to stabilizing fragile and failed states. With additional resources, CSO could link understanding of the security environment with political resolution options to promote stability.